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Karla Sofía Gascón has been under heavy fire for controversial posts shared on social media four and five years ago. However, the Oscar-nominated Emilia Perez star has emphatically denied at least one problematic post, which was directed at one of her co-stars in the film.

Among the posts alleged to have been shared by Gascón was a negative comment about Selena Gomez, referred to as a "rich rat." In a new CNN en Español interview, which Variety reports was set up by Gascón, the Gomez post in particular was said to be completely fabricated. Gascón insisted that she "would never" say such comments about Gomez.

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“Of course that’s not mine,” Gascón said of the message about Gomez. “I have never said anything about my partner.

Continuing her efforts to repair her damaged reputation, embattled Best Actress Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón sat down with CNN en Español anchor Juan Carlos Arciniegas for a nearly hourlong interview Saturday in which she broke down multiple times.

Gascón, who made history as the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar bid for Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, has been under fire after offensive social media posts from the past five years were uncovered. She has since deleted her X account.

In the interview, Gascón claimed that one social media post, in which her Emilia Pérez screen partner Selena Gomez was called a “rich rat,” was fabricated. “Of course, that’s not mine,” Gascón told CNN (watch above). “I have never said anything about my partner. I would never refer to her that way.”

Gascón voiced regret about the media’s interpretation of her tweets, which touched on topics such as Muslims,...

Zoe Saldaña has broken her silence on the recent controversy surrounding her Emilia Pérez co-star, Karla Sofía Gascón. Gascón, who leads the musical crime drama as its titular character, has received backlash for resurfaced social media posts (that range in time from 2016 to 2023), where she makes Islamophobic and racist comments. During a Q&a for the film hosted on Friday night, Saldaña told The Hollywood Reporter:

"I'm still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I'm sad. It makes me really sad because I don't support [it], and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group. I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity.

The film Emilia Perez has seemingly generated just as much controversy as it has acclaim. While the film is up for some big wins at the Academy Awards, some new controversy ahead of the ceremony has thrown a damper on the event.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Zoe Saldana has broken her silence on the resurfaced comments posted on X (then Twitter) years ago by Emilia Perez co-star Karla Sofía Gascón. While at a Q&a in London, Saldana was asked about the problematic posts, which have since been deleted after creating controversy. Though she was there to represent Emilia Perez, Saldana was not joined by Gascón, who most likely did not attend because of the situation.

RelatedZoe Saldaña Reveals James Cameron Hailed Her for Golden Globe Win While Working on Avatar 3

Zoe Saldaña says Avatar franchise director James Cameron praised her Golden Globe win for Emilia Pérez while she was still in the audience.

Emilia Pérez has many reasons to celebrate, as it boasts no less than 13 Academy Award nominations. Lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón also made history as the first time a trans star has been nominated for an acting category at the Academy.

However, despite the ongoing controversy for its depiction of the Mexican culture, Emilia Pérez is plagued with new negative attention. In the midst of her campaign for Best Actress, Karla Sofía Gascón is under fire for some resurfaced old tweets. Following the backlash, the actress officially shared a statement to CNN where she apologized for her words.

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Journalist Sarah Hagi was the person who shared screenshots of Gascón's previous tweets, in which she...

Celebrities who have used Twitter, now X, as the sounding board of their views have learned the hard way that what is written cannot be forgotten. From James Gunn to Kevin Hart, statements they may have posted years ago that have offensive text can be discovered and used against them. Learning this today is Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, who saw a slew of her old tweets spread across X in a bid to show that she has exhibited offensive and racist tendencies despite her calls for unity as she promotes her polarizing film that has managed to be the darling of the awards season. Emilia Pérez already had its naysayers for a plethora of reasons, but Gascón added more fuel to the fire. She has now issued an apology, which may have come too little too late, and the backlash has led her to slink away from her X page entirely.

Emilia Pérezhas been making headlines as of late, and not for the best of reasons. Although it is one of the most Oscar-nominated films of all time, the musical drama has been subject to several controversies. From Mexican audiences widely rejecting the film to the director having to "apologize" for the film project, Emilia Pérez appears to not be a widely-regarded favorite despite the amount of prestigious awards nominations. The hits keep on coming, too. This time, Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón has been hit with some serious backlash over controversial comments directed at her fellow nominee and past xenophobic social media posts.

During an interview with Brazilian news outlet Folha de S. Paulo (via The Wrap), Gascón made overt suggestions that the social media team of fellow Best Actress contender Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here), who recently apologized for doing blackface in a past sketch, participated in a...

Karla Sofía Gascón is catching fire online after claiming that the team behind her fellow Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres has been speaking “badly” about her online.

The Emilia Pérez actress made the accusation against Torres’ team on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, she took back her comment by saying she was referring to “violent hate speech” she has generally received online. A source also told Rolling Stone Wednesday that Gascón’s claims in the interview do not constitute a rules violation since she did not “disparage” the I’m Still Here nominee.

Final Oscars voting is February 11-18, 2025. The 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2, and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. Et/ 4 p.m. Pt. We update our picks throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

The Best Makeup and Hairstyling nominees are “A Different Man,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Nosferatu,” “The Substance,” and “Wicked.” The emphasis on horror is unusual, with Best Picture nominee “The Substance” as the favorite since the prosthetics are key to Demi Moore’s Oscar-nominated performance.

Oscar-nominated director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” is a brilliant satire of toxic beauty culture, in which 50-year-old TV aerobics star Elisabeth (Moore) transforms into gorgeous 20-something Sue (Margaret Qualley). But the youth miracle drug turns to body horror, with Elisabeth becoming the decaying mutation called Gollum and both of them evolving into the hideous Monstro. Prosthetics makeup...

The Oscar nominations were tense as always, with many of the best actors alive going head-to-head for the biggest prizes. Names like Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, and Edward Norton were called out as returning nominees. Meanwhile, Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, and Kieran Culkin were welcomed to the club. Below, we’ve ranked the performances of the 2025 Oscar nominees based on the quality of the performances.

20. Felicity Jones – The Brutalist 2025 Oscar Nominees Ranked

While the second half of The Brutalist certainly has its defenders, those who struggle with it can often point to Jones. The actress brings a very modern air to a period-set film. Additionally, she feels wrong in the role, overacting and pushing too far in several scenes. We like Jones well enough, but in The Brutalist it does not work.

19. Isabella Rossellini – Conclave 2025 Oscar Nominees Ranked

One of the most iconic movie stars of all time was the beneficiary of a weak lineup.

Karla Sofía Gascón made Oscar history Thursday as the first openly transgender actor to land an Academy Award nomination.

Gascón scored her first career nomination Thursday morning in the Best Actress category for her lead role in Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language operatic musical, “Emilia Pérez,” cementing her place in the Oscar history books.

The landmark Oscar nomination is groundbreaking for the transgender community as it marks the first time an out trans actor has broken through in a major acting category with the Academy.

Gascón isn’t the first trans actor to be recognized by the Academy, however. Elliot Page, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for their leading role in “Juno,” came out as trans through an Instagram post in December 2020, 12 years after being nominated.

The Academy has also previously nominated trans filmmakers and musicians. Composer Angela Morley was the first openly transgender Oscar nominee in 1975 for co-writing...

The 2025 Oscar nominations will finally be announced on Thursday and provide some clarity to what has been a wide-open race. Contrary to last year, when Oppenheimer led from start to finish, the 2025 contenders have oscillated dramatically, with several films vying to secure a spot among the year’s top 10 contenders. So, which movies are currently locks, which are still on the bubble, and which are long shots to be announced come Thursday? Here is our breakdown of the Best Picture Oscar nominations.

Locks

The Brutalist — 6/1 odds

Best Actor front-runner Adrien Brody plays visionary architect László Tóth who, with his wife (Felicity Jones), flees post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of the modern United States. The epic period drama directed by Brady Corbet won Golden Globes for Best Film Drama, Best Director and Best Actor (Brody) — and has racked up all the precursor nominations needed to...

Of the many surprises and delights we’ve encountered during this year’s festival film season, none has been more exciting than Karla Sofía Gascón’s breakout moment in Emilia Pérez. Playing the titular lead in the musical crime drama from director Jacques Audiard, she’s an absolute revelation as a fearsome cartel leader who yearns for life as her true self. In the genre-defying film, the actress had the formidable task of portraying — and, because it’s a musical, singing, as — one person in two stages of life. First, she’s the drug lord Manitas, then, after the character’s gender reassignment surgery, she becomes Emilia, the woman she’s always hoped of blooming into. “It’s a dream role that is hard to find because it has so much depth, so much richness, and for an actor to get into it, it needs a lot of dedication,” reflects Gascón,...

Karla Sofía Gascón, one of the stars of this year's acclaimed and divisive film, Emilia Pérez, claims she had a dream of hers come true. That was when she was able to meet her Star Wars hero, Harrison Ford, during the 2025 Golden Globes ceremony. Not only that, but Gascón says that Ford actually cried with her when they both met.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the actress went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she spoke about her latest film and the attention it has gotten after rocking the awards circuit with a few unexpected wins. Gascón also mentioned that it was her golden opportunity to meet one of her heroes, Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford:

"I met Harrison Ford the other night after the Golden Globes. I was really surprised by the words that he said to me. It was wonderful. It was an honor. The fact that we were able to hug,...

Netflix's award-winning musical crime comedy Emilia Perez has ignited its share of controversy, and star Karla Sofía Gascón is addressing that backlash. Gascón leads the star-studded film as a former Mexican cartel leader, Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, who embarks on a transformative journey to become the titular character. For her portrayal, Gascón has garnered critical acclaim, a Cannes Film Festival win, and is a major awards season contender. Should she receive an Oscar nod for Best Actress - and she is expected to - Gascón will be the first openly trans woman to earn a nomination in the category. She's already made history as the first trans woman in the Golden Globes' Best Actress race (that win went to co-star Zoe Saldaña).

Despite a phenomenal cast and awards season buzz, Emilia Pérez has received significant criticism since its release. During a conversation with Vanity Fair, Gascón spoke about the...

Karla Sofía Gascón is making waves with her role in Emilia Pérez, a film that has earned her major recognition and backlash. She plays a former Mexican drug lord named Manitas who transitions into Emilia, a woman starting a new life.

Her portrayal has been praised, but the hate she receives online is just as loud. Many of the messages are filled with threats, insults, and transphobia. Despite this, Gascón embraces the negativity, saying it fuels her drive in an interview for The Hollywood Reporter.

She feels it only adds to her motivation to keep going, even if it means being public enemy number one for some people.

The movie is gaining momentum, and there’s strong speculation she’ll be nominated for an Oscar—something that could make her the first openly transgender actress to win. It’s not just her acting that stands out, but the film itself,...

Karla Sofía Gascón reads the hate. All of it. Alongside the flood of praise for her lead performance in the late-breaking Oscar favorite Emilia Pérez, a steady trickle of vitriol has flowed in the gutters of social media. When we meet in her native Madrid, Gascón takes out her phone to show me messages she has screenshotted and marked up. “I hope you die before you make another movie,” spewed one X user. After beloved Spanish actress Marisa Paredes passed away a few days before our interview, another anonymous online wit mused, “I wish you could have died instead of her.” She’s also received death threats in Mexico, where Emilia Pérez is set and where she has spent much of her professional life: “I was told I would be found dismembered in a bag.”

Should she be nominated for an Oscar, which most pundits expect, Gascón is poised to...

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, one of the most anticipated events in the entertainment industry, has officially announced its nominees for 2025. Recognizing the finest performances in film and television, this year’s nominations reflect a diverse and dynamic array of talent. From compelling dramas to musical extravaganzas, the SAG Awards continue to honor excellence across genres. Below is the complete list of nominees for the SAG Awards 2025, showcasing outstanding performances that defined the year in cinema and television.

Leading the pack this year is Wicked with an impressive six nominations, followed by A Complete Unknown and Anora with five nominations each. Other notable films like Emilia Pérez and Conclave also earned multiple nods, showcasing the year’s rich storytelling and outstanding performances across categories.

Film Nominees Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Adrien Brody / László Tóth – “The Brutalist” Timothée Chalamet / Bob Dylan – “A Complete Unknown” Daniel Craig...

Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in ‘Wicked’ (Photo by Giles Keyte © Universal Studios)

The Screen Actors Guild wisely opted to cancel its in-person 2025 SAG Awards nominations announcement as fires raged throughout Los Angeles. The list of film nominees, representing the best work by actors in 2024, is led by Wicked with five nominations. A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez each earned four, and Anora picked up three nominations. Conclave and The Last Showgirl were nominated for two SAG Awards.

Shōgun leads all television nominees with five, followed by The Bear (coming off a disappointing season) with four and The Diplomat with three. 12 series tied with two nominations each.

Winners will be announced during the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards streaming on Netflix on Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 5pm Pt/8pm Et.

SAG Awards Motion Picture Nominees

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody...

“Wicked” and “Shōgun” received the most nominations for the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which were released Wednesday morning via press release after the in-person announcement was canceled due to the Los Angeles fires.

In the movie categories, “Wicked” scored nods for lead actress Cynthia Erivo, supporting actress Ariana Grande, supporting actor Jonathan Bailey, cast ensemble and stunt ensemble. Close behind was “A Complete Unknown,” with nominations for lead Timothée Chalamet, supporting actor Edward Norton, supporting actress Monica Barbaro and cast ensemble.

Recent Golden Globe winner Demi Moore strengthened her chances at an Oscar nomination with her lead performance nod Wednesday morning for “The Substance.” Pamela Anderson followed up her Golden Globe nomination with another surprise one for her lead performance in “The Last Showgirl.” In that highly competitive best actress category, notable snubs included Angelina Jolie (“Maria”), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”) and Golden Globe winner...

The 2025 SAG Award nominations are in!

The 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will stream live globally on Netflix Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 8 p.m. Et / 5 p.m. Pt from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall. Kristen Bell returns as host.

Joey King and Cooper Koch were supposed to announce the nominees live this morning, but the event was canceled due to the devastating fires happening in California right now.

Keep reading to find out more…

Scroll down for the full list of nominees…

Movie Nominations:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody / László Tóth – “The Brutalist”

TIMOTHÉE Chalamet / Bob Dylan – “A Complete Unknown”

Daniel Craig / William Lee – “Queer”

Colman Domingo / Divine G – “Sing Sing”

Ralph Fiennes / Lawrence – “Conclave”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Pamela Anderson / Shelly – “The Last Showgirl”

Cynthia Erivo / Elphaba – “Wicked”

Karla SOFÍA GASCÓN / Emilia/Manitas – “Emilia PÉREZ”

Mikey Madison...

At the Golden Globes on Sunday, Emilia Pérez walked away with one of the biggest prizes of the night: Best Picture, Musical or Comedy. But as Karla Sofía Gascón took the stage for a speech about self-actualization, the internet flamed the Netflix movie for what many called an inauthentic portrayal of Mexican culture and trans experience.

“When Mexicans tell you that a movie… is portraying a Mexico full of stereotypes, ignorance, lack of respect and is profiting from one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world,” wrote Mexican...

In an awards season where the race still seems to be fairly wide open, one film is gaining more traction than most as the finish line wobbles into view over the horizon.

“Emilia Perez” wasn’t talked about as an Oscar hopeful after it first bowed at the Cannes Film Festival, but eight months on and Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller about a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender affirmation surgery to live as a woman looks like it’s in pole position to land some major statuettes.

On Sunday, it won big at the Golden Globes, emerging ahead with four gongs, including best motion picture — musical or comedy, best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best motion picture — non-English language and best original song. Just two days earlier, it was the top film out of the BAFTA longlists, with 15 slots across the various categories.

The emergence of “Emilia Perez” as...

Netflix’s Emilia Pérez could be about to sweep awards season. The main trio of actresses that drive the story are nominated in the early rounds of red carpets and awards ceremonies, namely the Golden Globes — with ten noms — as well as the BAFTAs — where it leads the longlist with Conclave.

After entering the conversation in May 2024, the Spanish musical crime comedy arrived on Netflix last November. For all the details about the work that stars Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and more, read below:

What is Emilia Pérez about?

The story follows Saldaña’s Rita, a lawyer who is overqualified but also overlooked at her large law firm, which aims more just to get criminals out of trouble than to actually serve them justice. Rita gets an unexpected opportunity to exit this situation when Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón), the leader of a notorious cartel, hires her to help him withdraw...

The long-standing debate about what separates a lead from a supporting performance has resurfaced this awards season. Case in point: Netflix’s high-profile contender “Emilia Pérez.” The Spanish-language musical, directed by acclaimed French auteur Jacques Audiard, has already garnered enthusiastic reviews and is poised to be a significant player across multiple Oscar categories. But the studio’s decision to campaign Karla Sofía Gascón as best actress while positioning her co-star Zoe Saldaña as a supporting actress has sparked a heated discussion.

Saldaña’s role as Rita, a lawyer who aids the drug cartel boss Manitas in faking her death, undergoing gender-affirming surgery, and emerging as “Emilia Pérez,” propels the film’s narrative. Her extensive screen time supports this argument.

According to Matthew Stewart of Screen Time Central, Saldaña’s performance clocks in at 57 minutes and 50 seconds, representing 43.69% of the film’s runtime. It’s also slightly more than Gascón’s 52 minutes and 21 seconds (39.54%) on film.

Spoiler alert. That’s actress Karla Sofia Gascón playing both roles in Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez.”

The film, now streaming on Netflix, follows Emilia (Karla Sofia Gascón), a feared drug lord who seeks the help of a lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), to fake her death and undergo gender-affirming surgery.

Gascón portrays a fearsome drug lord before Emilia’s transition. It took a team of artisans who considered Mickey Rourke’s character Randy Robinson in “The Wrestler” to be the prime inspiration. From beginning to end, creating Emilia’s pre-transition look took three hours; an hour and a half of that was prosthetics application.

Prosthetic pieces were applied to Gascón’s nose, jawline and cheeks to make her look as masculine as possible. Makeup department head Julia Floch Carbonel worked closely with SFX makeup artist Jean Christophe Spadaccini to experiment with different noses, damaged skin and hairstyles. Carbonel’s challenge...

If you get an opera vibe while watching director Jacques Audiard‘s new Netflix film “Emilia Pérez,” you’re not imagining things. As production designer Emmanuelle Duplay tells Gold Derby during our Film Production Design panel, the team initially “went scouting in Mexico” for sets and locations. However, after some “casting and timing issues,” they ended up going “back to Paris,” which is where they focused on making the modern-day film “much more operatic” by using studios. Watch our video interview above.

Early in the film, crime boss Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) kidnaps Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldaña) and brings her to a van, which proved to be a unique set to create. “At first, we were wondering, where could Manitas live?” Duplay recalls. “And we wanted something that was constantly in flux, in movement. It was very important for things to move as the van was traveling.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Perez.

There has been speculation about whether Netflix's crime comedy musical and Oscar-contender Emilia Prez is based on a true story. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. The film is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025 despite receiving backlash about the misrepresentation of the realities of trans people and relying on trans narrative tropes.

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is one of the essential highlights of the film as well as...

Of the many twists and surprises in Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical “Emilia Pérez,” the most startling comes during the film’s end credits, when one realizes that breakout performer Karla Sofía Gascón stars as the eponymous Emilia both pre- and post-gender-affirming surgery. Of course she’s the stunning Emilia, but she also plays evil cartel leader Manitas.

That’s a bold move, and no one involved in the transformation of Gascón into a male character took it lightly.

“I was scared for Karla when we had to talk about this part of the film,” co-head of makeup Julia Floch Carbonel told IndieWire. “I was scared to put her back somewhere that she, of course, had been really unhappy. But what we created, she was really joyful about it. Very enthusiastic all the time.”

For Manitas, the terrifying cartel leader who hires a young lawyer named Rita (Zoe Saldana) to...

Spoiler Alert: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “Emilia Pérez,” currently streaming on Netflix.

Mickey Rourke’s Randy Robinson in “The Wrestler” and the timeless looks of Catherine Deneuve served as inspiration for the titular character in Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.”

The film follows Emilia (Karla Sofia Gascón), a feared cartel leader who seeks the help of a lawyer, Rita (Zoe Saldaña), to fake her death and undergo gender-affirming surgery to finally live life authentically as her true self. Gascón was confident she could play both roles in Emilia’s transition journey, which set up a mammoth task for the team of artisans.

When audiences first meet Emilia, the character is a fearsome drug lord whose penchant for killing creates a sense of terror. “Manitas is just trying to survive and to get ahead in society,” Gascón explains. “All he had left was pretending to...

Jacques Audiard’s musical, Emilia Perez, chronicles a story that champions the ideals of new beginnings, second chances, and personal growth but simultaneously highlights the dangers when the ideals are reflected only in the personal sphere and don’t extend outside of it. Being a blend of several genres, Emilia Perez has a very distinct narrative approach that is backed by the strong performances of the female lead trio. The challenge posed by the unique tone of the movie demanded the actors seamlessly switch between emotional scenes from the dramatic portions and humorous bits from the musical side of it, something which was accomplished well by the ensemble cast, whose performance already let the movie swing hard in international film festivals.

Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Perez Played by Karla Sofía Gascón

Spanish actor Karla Sofia Gascón came out as an openly transgender actor back in 2018, by when she had become...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez features Selena Gomez's career-best film performance as the unstoppable Jessi Del Monte. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon and is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025.

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is one of the essential highlights of the film as well as the heart and soul of the ultimately tragic narrative.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emila Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez has sparked some controversy surrounding its alleged misrepresentation and flawed character construction of its titular trans protagonist, played by Karla Sofa Gascn. The combined talents of Gascn, Zoe Saldaa, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez, which won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival after its world premiere in May. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret.

The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon and is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is the essential highlight of the film as well as the heart and soul of the inspirational yet tragic narrative.

Our identities adapt according to the situations we are put in, according to our surroundings and the people we come across—there’s one that we want to present ourselves as in front of the world, and then there’s one that the world perceives us as. But perhaps the most enduring identity we form is a by-product of the blend of nature and nurture, something that is embedded in our very core—and no matter what we do, that identity stays with us. Director Jacques Audiard’s latest release, Emilia Perez, juggles a lot of things, being a unique mix of musical, telenovela, crime drama, and comedy, but its narrative fulcrum is in the exploration of the said core identity, which begs the question of whether it is possible for anyone to truly transform. The fusion of different genres imparts a distinct flavor to the movie, and for the most part,...

At its heart, Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard’s unclassifiable transgender Mexican cartel telenovela musical, is a film about transition, transformation and rebirth.

The transformation is not just that of Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a Mexican drug kingpin who longs to escape a life of violence and death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery to become her true self: the glamorous, vivacious Emilia Pérez. (The magnetic Spanish trans actor Karla Sofía Gascón plays both roles).

Emilia Pérez is also the story of the transmutation of Zoe Saldaña. The Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy star finally gets to inhabit her own skin on the big screen, neither blue nor green, as Rita Moro Castro, an overworked, overlooked defense lawyer closing in on 40 who has spent her career keeping unrepentant cartel slime out of prison. Manitas gives her an offer she can’t refuse: Help me transition, relocate my family and organize my disappearance,...

When And Where To Watch Emilia Perez Online? (Photo Credit – Netflix)

Jacques Audiard’s acclaimed genre-bending feature film Emilia Perez, which stars Hollywood artists like Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, is set to release online. The Cannes-favorite movie will stream exclusively on Mubi in India from December 6th, 2024. Mubi, the global film distributor, production company, and streaming service, has also released the film’s official artwork ahead of its digital release.

The film had its World Premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2024. It received rave reviews at the festival and won the Jury Prize. Emilia Perez also bagged the Best Actresses award at the festival for the ensemble cast. In addition to Saldana and Gomez, the movie features Karla Sofía Gascon and Adriana Paz in lead roles.

Emilia Perez has been selected to represent France at the 2025 Academy Awards for Best International Feature. It is produced by Why Not Productions, Page 114, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello,...

The latest film, starring Zoe Saldana, and Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez, has certainly turned heads, especially after making a splash at various film festivals. Sure, it has its flaws, but one thing’s undeniable, it manages to steal the spotlight from other Oscar contenders!

Selena Gomez plays Jessi Del Monte in Emilia Pérez | Pathé

Despite a few rough edges, the movie’s impact is hard to ignore, and many believe it has all the right ingredients to overshadow other big names in the race. Here’s why this film has got everyone talking.

Emilia Pérez is Taking the Internet by Storm but Not for the Reasons You’d Expect!

The movie Emilia Perez has become a viral sensation, thanks to a number of unforgettable moments that fans can’t stop talking about. Whether it’s Selena Gomez delivering lines with her signature deadpan style or Zoe Saldaña breaking into song in the most unexpected way,...

Editor Juliette Welfling has come to expect the unexpected from director Jacques Audiard. She’s cut all 10 of his French films, but “Emilia Pérez” (now streaming on Netflix) is the most experimental yet. The crime thriller/family drama marks their first musical. Welfling was naturally drawn to the operatic nature of the music (Clément Ducol composed the original score and French singer Camille wrote the original songs), but was most impressed that it was a modern fable.

“Often his films are about families and crimes as well, but there’s nothing realistic in this movie, it’s about anything,” Welfling told IndieWire.

“Emilia Pérez” stars Zoe Saldaña as Rita, a disgruntled lawyer fed up with the corruption in Mexico City, who assists drug lord Manitas Del Monte in undergoing gender confirmation surgery to become the titular woman (both played by Karla Sofía Gascón). It’s like a musical fever dream about transformation with gaudy,...

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Netflix opens “Emilia Pérez” in theaters on November 1 before the film streams November 13.

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a movie musical where the words “mammoplasty, vaginoplasty, rhinoplasty” play out in song. Nor have you lived until you’ve seen that same movie musical in which Selena Gomez says the words “My pussy still hurts when I think of you.” And you’ve never seen a movie musical at all about transness that takes as bold of swings as Jacques Audiard‘s “Emilia Pérez,” which is stylistically unforgettable while missing the crucial element that makes any movie musical work: Actually good, memorable songs.

Audiard is the 72-year-old French director known ever for dipping into other worlds and genres that are far from his own as a cis white guy from Europe. His 2015 Palme d’Or...

In Emilia Perez’s ending, the marriage of mourning and celebration immortalized the complicated and inspiring life of the title character. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film capture the feminine experience of actualizing one’s truth and seeking it with acute desperation so well. So you can imagine how moved I am by Jacques Audiard’s film and its story of four women trying to achieve the self and the life they deserve against the tumultuous backdrop of a crime-riddled Mexico. Yet what I admire most about Emilia Perez is its very affecting ending and how it transcends the bounds of expectations to be sincere to the journey.

Spoiler Alert

What Is The Film About?

Fate’s got a big part to play in everything that happens in Emilia Perez. From the circumstances of the characters before their worlds collide as though the universe itself conspires it,...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez takes place in many countries but was filmed in only one. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon.

Emilia Prez is France's entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 82% and an audience score of 79%. Emilia Prez's mostly favorable reviews have made it an early contender for Best Picture and has also generated Best Actress Oscar buzz for Gascn and Best Supporting Actress for Saldaa.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Music plays such a crucial and creative role in Netflix's crime musical Emilia Prez. As much of the story is told through various styles of genres of music performed by the cast of Emilia Prez, the original songs become an essential part and driving force of the overall narrative. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. Many of the original songs on Emilia Prez's soundtrack were written and performed by the French singer Camille.

Emilia Prez is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon. The story follows Saldaa's Rita Moro Castro, a defense lawyer in Mexico City looking to make a difference, who encounters an unusual but lucrative opportunity from cartel kingpin Manitas Del Monte as he aims to fulfill his lifetime...

One of the buzziest films this awards season, Emilia Prez is set to drop on Netflix on November 13. Directed by Jacques Audiard, it is a French-made musical crime film following the titular Emilia (played by Karla Sofa Gascn), a cartel kingpin who hires a lawyer (Zoe Saldaa) to help her transition to being the woman she has always wanted to be and start a new life.

It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival early in 2024, winning Best Actress for its ensemble cast, including Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. Emilia Prez was also up for the Palme d'Or (which ultimately went to Sean Baker's Anora) and took home a directing jury prize for Audiard. Notably, Gascn also became the first openly trans actor to win an acting award at the Cannes Festival.

If the film's reception overseas was not enough of an indicator of its critical success so far, Emilia...

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Emilia Prez has been generating buzz and praise since it began playing on the festival circuit, and on November 13 audiences at home will finally be able to witness the movie magic on Netflix. At times a narco crime thriller and at others a musical extravaganza, the newest film from Jacques Audiard is never anything short of a visual feast. It tells the story of a Mexican cartel leader, Manitas (played by Spanish actress Karla Sofa Gascn), who transforms into the eponymous Emilia Prez after gender reassignment surgery.

Her new identity comes with a new outlook on life, and Emilia makes it her mission to right past wrongs with the help of Rita, a brilliant and steadfast lawyer portrayed by Zoe Saldaa. When it comes to her personal life, however, she is at something of a loss when her wife (or rather widow...

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After a highly successful run on the festival circuit and a short but fruitful theatrical run, Emilia Prez is coming to Netflix on November 13. Part musical and part crime thriller, the genre-defying project was written and directed by visionary auteur Jacques Audiard. Karla Sofa Gascn portrays the titular protagonist, who begins the film as Manitas, a cartel leader feared throughout Mexico who hopes to leave the blood-soaked life of a drug dealer upon transitioning.

The brilliant but disgruntled lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaa) becomes Emilia's confidante in this process, inspiring and facilitating a new leaf that goes far beyond gender reassignment surgery. Together, Emilia and Rita begin a project to recover the remains of those who fell victim to cartel violence, all while Emilia tries to reconnect with her ex-wife Jessi (Selena Gomez showing a new and exciting side to her talent...

Can people really change? Under its many layers — musical, crime drama, trans self-actualization story — that’s the simple question at the heart of Emilia Pérez.

For Karla Sofia Gascón, who stars in the title role, that meant embodying a radical transformation — leaving behind her life as a cruel cartel chief, and emerging as Emilia Pérez, her true, most authentic self.

Emilia isn’t the only character in the film who wants to change her life. Enter Rita, played by Zoe Saldaña. “Rita is an accomplished lawyer who lives in Mexico City and is at a point in her life where she wants more than what her job and her environment can offer,” Saldaña told Netflix. Disgusted by the cartels and their hold over Mexican life, Rita nevertheless helps Manitas transition and hides her family away in Switzerland; then she takes her payout and hits the road. But they both...

Netflix steps into and beyond the musical genre with Emilia Prez, a movie that manages to combine crime thriller, melodrama, and emotional pop ballads into one cohesive narrative. From the visionary mind of Jacques Audiard, the story follows a powerful drug lord, Manitas, who hires a brilliant lawyer (Zoe Saldaa) as part of the transition process to becoming a new woman named Emilia Prez. Karla Sofa Gascn plays the role with an exterior calm that skillfully suppresses the storm raging within as Emilia seeks redemption for the harm Manitas has caused her community.

In addition to Gascn and Saldaa, Emilia Prez also stars Selena Gomez as Manitas' wife Jessi, who feels like a stranger in a strange land after her husband's disappearance. Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramirez round out the main cast, and while each actor gets at least one moment in the musical spotlight, the beating heart of the...

Nearly six months after it premiered at Cannes—where it was awarded the Jury Prize and Best Actress for its central ensemble—Emilia Pérez will surely continue to fuel divisive discourse upon its Netflix streaming premiere. French director Jacques Audiard steps far outside of his personal purview to tell the...

There are a lot of things that are tough to sell in movies. Genre blending can be one, in an age of huge concept films and sequel-mania aimed at setting audience expectations in stone and luring in as many people as possible. Queer stories are another, given the chasm between the far ends of the spectrum of social beliefs in this country. Musicals feel impossible to pull off, begging the question why you would turn a comic book villain sequel into one, but it also doesn’t help that distributors will do any- and everything to hide the fact an upcoming film is in fact a musical in all of its marketing. On top of all that, foreign language films historically don’t do as well as others in the American market, save for a few spectacular outliers. Needless to say, Jacques Audiard faced an uphill battle selling ‘Emilia Pérez...

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez is a movie that occurs once a decade. His genre-blending movie boasts four star-studded performances from Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz. Audiard swung for the fences and knocked it out of the ballpark. We had the opportunity to participate in a press conference featuring the four leads.

Emilia Perez follows the story of cartel leader Emilia, who enlists an underappreciated lawyer to help fake her death so that Emilia can live as her authentic self. This ignites a powerful journey of four remarkable women pursuing their own variation of happiness.

Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz discuss creating Emilia Perez. Netflix’s Emilia Perez

Moderator: In your wildest dreams, when you attended a Disney open call, did you think your life and career would ultimately lead you to Jessi and Emilia Perez?

Selena Gomez: I don...